METHOD OF PYROMETALLURGICAL PROCESSING OF OXIDISED NICKEL ORE TO OBTAIN FERRONICKEL IN A MELTING UNIT Russian patent published in 2019 - IPC C22B23/00 

FIELD: metallurgy.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to metallurgy, particularly to pyrometallurgical processing of oxidized nickel ore containing non-ferrous metals and iron to obtain ferronickel containing at least 70 % nickel in a melting unit. Method comprises preliminary heating of prepared charge consisting of nickel-containing ore and flux additives, feeding it into the melting unit to the mirror of the ferronickel melt left from the previous melting, melting the charge to obtain an oxide melt and reduction of oxide melt of nickel and part of iron using solid carbonaceous reducing agent, and heat formed during off-gas afterburning to form ferronickel melt, removal of ferronickel melt and slag from melting unit and direction of slag for receiving of cast iron. Reduction of nickel and iron is carried out by bubbling oxide melt with a gas obtained by reacting oxygen and carbon in a mixture containing oxygen and a solid carbonaceous reducing agent which is injected into the ferronickel melt, which is located under the slag layer on the bottom of the melting unit, with an oxidizer consumption coefficient α= 0.5–0.6.

EFFECT: invention enables to obtain ferronickel containing at least 70 % nickel and cast iron alloyed with nickel.

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